Five suspects were arrested for robbery after a shoot-out and a car chase took place from Faerie Glen to Benoni on Thursday, police told Rekord.

The suspects entered a house in Faerie Glen on Thursday morning and tied up the five occupants of the house before robbing them. “They took plasma TVs, laptops, five cell phones and jewellery,” said the police spokesperson, Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng.

After fleeing the scene, the suspects came across two members of the community who had witnessed the robbery. “The suspects shot at one of the witnesses, but, fortunately, no one was injured. The community members then chased the suspects while contacting the local Community Policing Forum (CPF) for help. The CPF alerted the police, who then activated the flying squad, Tshwane metro police and other police officers,” Mofokeng explained.

A car chase took place on the R21 highway between the flying squad and the suspects, who drove a red Range Rover Evoque. “The flying squad alerted the police that they were headed in the direction of Kempton Park and should set up several road blocks. However, the suspects realised this and took a different route, which led them to Pretoria Road in Benoni,” said Mofokeng.

Upon their arrival in Crystal Park, Benoni, after attempts to flag down the suspects, police had to shoot at their tyres to bring their car to a standstill. “We managed to arrest all five suspects. In the Range Rover we found four unlicensed firearms with serial numbers filed off, plasma TVs, five cell phones, four laptops, a car jamming device and jewellery. The items’ total worth was about R75 000. We also discovered that the Range Rover they were driving was stolen in Johannesburg in January,” Mofokeng said.

Police are still formulating charges against the suspects. “We still need to track where they come from and if they have any other criminal records. In the meantime, they are being charged with house robbery,” said Mofokeng.